Tag Archives: Zamboanga City

The dreaded El Niño phenomenon is wreaking more destruction. After victimizing farmlands, it’s devastating power is now slowly spreading out to bodies of water.

Two familiar words come to mind: global warming.

Fishkill in Ifugáo, Isabela; church storms heaven

The prolonged dry spell that is triggering power and water shortages throughout the country is beginning to take its toll on vegetable, fish and livestock farms and on the rice and corn crops in certain regions.

In Ifugáo and Isabela, dead tilapià could be seen floating in fish pens, cages and ponds in the first incidences of “fish kill” as the worst of the El Niño sets in.

Fishermen in Ifugáo province said they have lost about 30 tons of tilapià in fish cages and pens along the Magat River as water levels there have started to drop.

Farmers in Zamboanga City could only shake their heads in dismay at the failure of their vegetable crops because of the lack of water and the onset of pests and diseases brought about by the heat.

Agriculture officials in Western Mindanáo expect the rice yield in the region to be reduced by 15 percent.

The dry spell has destroyed P7.5 million worth of rice and corn crops and about P1.24 million worth of livestock in Negros Occidental, officials said.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales has asked the Catholic faithful to “storm the heavens” with prayers for rain.

“Let us together storm heaven with our supplication, that God’s mercy be upon us and send us the rain we need,” Rosales said as he issued an Oratio Imperata Friday. (Inquirer.net)